Skydance to review sports rights after Warner Bros. Discovery deal

NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 10, 2026

Skydance sports review

Skydance says it plans to stay a major force in sports after its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and the company is moving quickly to take stock of what it now controls. The new company will review more than three dozen sports rights deals tied to CBS Sports and TNT Sports, a portfolio that gives it a broad reach across live events and year-round programming. Skydance said it believes in sports and sees them as a core part of its long-term business. That approach puts live rights at the center of the combined company’s strategy, with sports expected to help drive reach, engagement and revenue across the broader media stack. The review will look at each package on its own terms, with the company weighing audience size, fan engagement, advertising value, streaming growth potential, scheduling needs and economics. That makes the process more than a simple accounting exercise. It is a portfolio test that will decide which events fit the new company’s future and which ones do not.

Combined portfolio strategy

Skydance says the combined sports portfolio is designed to build a year-round sports calendar, and the company believes that structure will give it a stronger hand with advertisers. Ynon Kreiz said the unified portfolio should create better advertising opportunities because brands will be able to buy across broadcast, cable, streaming and direct-to-consumer through one partner. That is the central pitch behind the new setup. Instead of selling pieces of the sports inventory separately, the company wants to offer a wider package that spans multiple platforms and touches more parts of the sports media market. Skydance says its holdings include the NFL, MLB, NHL, the Masters, NASCAR, UFC, March Madness, UEFA and major college conferences, a lineup that gives it major tentpoles across the sports calendar. The company also said one NASCAR rights deal in the portfolio runs through 2031, which gives that part of the schedule a long runway. David Ellison said some TNT Sports-originated properties could be candidates for sublicensing or termination, a sign that the review could reshape the portfolio rather than simply preserve it as is. He also said CBS’s NFL package remains a strong performer, but CBS’s Big Ten afternoon window has lagged behind Fox and ABC this season. That mix of strengths and weaker spots will shape the decisions that follow.

Streaming bundle plans

Skydance is also tying its sports strategy to streaming. The company plans to launch a combined Paramount+ and HBO Max bundle in early 2027, then move toward a fully unified streaming service about a year later. That timeline gives the company a staged path toward one larger digital offering, with sports positioned as a major draw along the way. The broader message from Skydance is clear. It wants to use sports as a foundation for the next phase of the company, not as a side business. That means the evaluation is about deciding which properties best support the company’s broadcast, cable and streaming plans as it builds a larger sports business around the merged assets.